If you’re familiar with my writing, you probably know I was a big fan of the SteemPress plugin. It was because it was somewhat realistic in principle to envision small business owners (bloggers) utilizing it to expand their funding methods without cluttering their site with more ads and appeals to donations.

However, it was quickly obvious that given the down-vote feature that can (and often does) quickly lift ones donations from other stakeholders it would be a shortsighted tool for a blogger to incorporate.

I remember shortly after joining Steem, I began wondering why businesses weren’t rushing to utilize Steem in their business models. So many seemingly intelligent people (many of them so smart they would qualify for the title of tech nerd) kept pushing the ideas of mass adoption with a cult like fervor.

And yet…

It never happened.

On the other chains, especially Hive, we can see firsthand why a business would in fact be foolish to utilize their chain for however they could envision a chain might actually benefit their model. In fact, the most recent glaring example involves the top of the Hive ecosystem who seem beside themselves they can’t steal a disliked persons rewards from one of the Hive side communities (Proof of Brain) who issued side tokens via Steem Engine.

The disliked person has seen their Hive account being nuked of rewards, and because the head of the POB project wouldn’t allow for them to buy in and nuke the side token awards, they have now driven his account to negative rep and no rewards.

They also now try to slander and denigrate the project, in effect sending strong signals to the Hive community that one would probably be wise to sell their stake and seek more approved methods of investing community wise. The first post is where the hostilities actually pulled BlockTrades into the mix with a down-vote.

https://hive.blog/hive-150329/@lucylin/proof-of-no-brain-is-exposed-by-using-the-having-skin-in-the-game-as-a-valid-argument

https://hive.blog/hive-150329/@azircon/pob-token-learning-a-new-hive-ecosystem

https://hive.blog/hive-150329/@azircon/a-request-to-look-under-the-hood-of-pob

https://hive.blog/hive-167922/@azircon/no-financial-security-in-pob-investment

The thing to remember with the Proof of Stake model is one is always at the mercy (especially in a down-vote model) of those with more stake. Designed to corral the users into trying to build an empire at the others expense.

In this case, they seem beside themselves that the leader of the Proof of Brain community is shielding someone they despise from their ability to steal the rewards. Enough so they are now seeking to drive that leader from the platform with their down-votes in retaliation.

So we can clearly see a very obvious reason no business in their right mind would use a down-vote proof of stake model for their business.

But What About One Without The Down-vote Feature, Such As Blurt?

When I first arrived at Blurt, I was pleased to quickly find one (in my opinion) who has a sharp mind that is capable of seeing past the cult-speak. Coupled with his deep study of a wide range of subjects, his ability to see the possibilities into a thing makes him among the most valuable authors here at Blurt (in my opinion).

It took some searching back through his blog, but I found a post he wrote that fits perfectly in the question of would a business wish to build upon an independent block-chain. Here is his post, and if you’re not familiar with it I urge you to read it.

https://blurtter.com/blurt/@rycharde/dependencies-are-more-important-than-decentralisation

The post itself involves a critical examination on the misconception(s) involving the idea of decentralization. He points out that it is a bogus term really, that instead one should understand that processes at best can be described as levels of dependencies. I don’t wish to make this post about reiterating his points, as I would not do justice to the way he is able to present this important truth. So again, please read the post, especially if what I’m about to share raises questions on the premise of dependencies and supposed decentralized block chain.

So back to the question now of a business utilizing Blurt or something like Blurt.

It seems to me that t he answer would be most already successful businesses would not wish to tie their expansions onto the dependency of a third party block-chain. That level of dependency would always leave them vulnerable to the competency, dependability and good graces of the chain administrators. A risk no company would rationally embrace.

I’ve been questioning this now for years, and the recent drama and posse attitude at Hive seemed to be the final piece for me to really look at this critically.

Logically, if one has a business use for a block-chain like Blurt/Hive/Steem, it would make sense to make ones own fork of the chain as Blurt and Hive did, and centralize it to fit the companies needs. No worries about

Others Stake.

Stability of the chain.

Rules being changed (a hard fork) that drastically alters the benefits of adoption.

Being able to make changes as one sees a need that make the adoption more useful without having stakeholders who are not aligned with your company refusing to implement.

I could go on, but I think I’ve exposed the doors what would make using an independent chain of ones business not something most businesses would seek to incorporate.

So this returns us to the question of who is the chain designed for. A question I’ve been asking of late in my posts. I’m not really certain, and after watching the other chains and now this one I remain uncertain if anyone really has a clear cut vision on who the end users are intended to be.

I’ve been poking this bear a lot lately, as I’m hopeful that this topic will become more of a focus for the users who are here, as well as those who write and maintain the code. In my last post, I took a critical look at this dynamic. And still I ask, who are the customers such projects seek to make the project one of both economic and adoptive success?

So farm, the environments I’ve been a part of over three years seem to be one of a small bubble made up of much smaller bubbles who pass rewards to one another as they sometimes build connections. I long ago began wondering if this is the best these type of chains can manifest.

I certainly have no ways to enhance upon the chain, but as I mentioned above, if I did I would personally centralize it so I (company) would have complete control of stability and processes.

I look forward to any insights you may have on companies that would desire to use such a chain as ours. As well as any ideas on the evolving of the chain into more than the small bubble made up of smaller bubbles.

As always, thanks for reading.